A grand feast of Filipino books

Although it is only three years old, the Philippine Book Festival (PBF) has emerged to be the biggest all-Filipino book fair, drawing more than 40,000 attendees in four days, according to its organizer, the National Book Development Board (NBDB), a national government agency dedicated to book publishing.

This year, PBF was held from 13 to 16 March at the Megatrade Hall in Mandaluyong City, a smaller venue compared to last year’s World Trade Center Metro Manila in Pasay City, but accessible to more people being inside a popular mall, SM Megamall. It was able attract the largest crowd in a single day — 17,857 people on 15 March — in the fair’s short history.

But more importantly, PBF was able to invigorate the love for reading among Filipinos, making books and the printed word hip again, with an effort to spotlight different literary genres and printed forms, 94 exhibitors, more than 110 book signing sessions, and more than a hundred events, all in one venue made vibrant with eye-catching designs and a festive atmosphere.

While last year’s festival was intent on addressing concerns about the dismal reading habits of the Filipinos, as revealed in a survey commissioned by NBDB, this year’s mood was more celebratory, as NBDB anticipates the participation of the Philippines as Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2025, which will take place from 15 to 19 October at Messe Frankfurt in Germany.

Also, the design theme of PBF 2025 was inspired by the modern-day, touristic festivals around the Philippines — Dinagyang Festival of Iloilo City, Iloilo; Tuna Festival of General Santos City in southern Mindanao; Panagbenga: The Baguio Flower Festival in northern Luzon; and the Pahiyas Festival of Lucban, Quezon. The whole venue was decorated with colorful banderitas or buntings, evoking the traditional patronal town fiestas, fitting for a celebration of Filipino authors and Philippine-published books.

Additionally, NBDB tapped renowned children’s book illustrators Juno Abreu, Pepot Atienza, Danielle Florendo, and Paul Eric Roca to create images and designs for the four sections of PBF, which they call “realms” — Booktopia (trade books), Kid Lit (children’s literature), Aral Aklat (educational books), and Komiks (comics and graphic novels).

The center of the festival was the Pakyawan Plaza, where people could meet and gather, read, and marvel at the centerpiece installation — a large hut, inspired by the traditional bahay kubo, complete with baskets of real farm produce. Constructed of bamboo and nipa fronds, the hut was embellished in the practice of pagpapahiyas during the Feast of San Isidro Labrador of Lucban, a community and church tradition that is incorporated also into the local government-organized Pahiyas Festival, featuring the kiping and Abreu’s artworks.

PBF 2025 also focused on education, welcoming more than 650 public school and teachers and Department of Education workers and scopers, who were given opportunities to choose books that would be used in classrooms and libraries.

“Our third year is all about the opportunity to be more intentional with our programming by getting to the heart of the matter and asking the very basic question: What do our teachers and our students need?” said NBDB executive director Charisse Aquino-Tugade, who founded the festival in 2023.

To make the scoping process more efficient, NBDB placed several “book counselors” to provide guidance.

“With the help of NBDB’s book counselors, the scoping process of our partners from DepEd was more seamless and insightful than ever before,” explained Aquino-Tugade. “They were able to select books that will truly enrich the learning experience of students across the country.”

The festival was able to facilitate P3 billion worth of books procured for distribution to public schools and libraries nationwide,

Aside from textbook publishers, the festival was able to give space to both established and small, independent publishers. There were also dedicated booths for popular screenwriter Ricky Lee, National Artist for film and broadcast arts, and comics creator Kevin Raymundo, popularly known as Tarantadong Kalbo.

PBF 2025 was brimming with different activities both at its main stage, in many of the booths and specialized sections including performances, live mural painting, talks and fora, workshops, book launches, etc.

Notable was one of the first activities in the centenary celebration of the creation of Lola Basyang, a beloved character created by writer and playwright Severino Reyes. Lola Basyang is a grandmother who tells stories, who made her debut in Reyes’ “Ang Plautin ni Periking” in the Filipino-language magazine Liwayway in 1925.

The activities included a panel discussion, “The Timeless Legacy of Lola Basyang,” led by children’s book author, and Lola Basyang scholar Christine Bellen-Ang, along with a descendant of Reyes, Ani R. Reyes; a poetry performance by another descendant, Leandro Reyes; and a screening of Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang, an animated film produced by the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Other Filipino fictional characters came alive in the cosplay contest, Filipiniana Cosplay Fiesta, in the last day of PBF. The duo depicting the komiks superhero Darna and villain Valentina, created by Mars Ravelo, won the top prize.

Among the book launches, one of the largest was the Vibal Group’s, which unveiled 13 new titles, as well as five new imprints.

On the other hand, the National Library of the Philippines (NLP) mounted a pocket exhibit, showcasing its collection of rare books — facsimile copies of José Rizal’s novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, and Doctrina Christiana en lengua española y tagala (Christian Doctrine in Spanish and Tagalog Languages), considered as the first book published in the Philippines, printed in Manila in 1593. Additionally, NLP also displayed old souvenir programs of town fiestas and a collection of photos of fiestas, in keeping with the festival theme, as well as old komiks such as Kenkoy, Darna and Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang.

The exhibit underscored the immortal power of books in an affair that is helping bolster the future of books, bridging the past and the future and making PBF a more meaningful experience.